News Rutgers freshman suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online? - Page 23

**jAZ** · 09-29-2010, 11:34 PM

Wow. Prank gone waaay wrong.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...gers_post.html

Rutgers freshman is presumed dead in suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online

Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 5:42 PM
Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger

PISCATAWAY — A Rutgers University freshman appears to have killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate broadcast live images of the 18-year-old having a sexual encounter with another man on the internet, according to campus and law enforcement sources.

Tyler Clementi, 18, of Ridgewood, is presumed dead after his car, cell phone and computer were found near the George Washington Bridge last week, law enforcement sources said. His wallet was found on the walkway adjacent to the New York-bound lanes. In a statement released this afternoon, Clementi’s family confirmed the suicide and said his body has not been found.

Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for setting up a camera in a dorm room on Sept. 19 and using it to view and transmit a live sex scene, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

Paul Mainardi of Woodbury, the Clementi family's attorney, said Ravi and Clementi were roommates at Rutgers.

Ravi's Twitter feed on that date referred to seeing his roommate have sex with another man in their room on the Piscataway campus, classmates said.

"Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay," Ravi said on his Twitter page in a Sept. 19 entry posted at 6:17 p.m.

Two days later, Ravi posted another entry directing his nearly 150 Twitter followers to iChat, an internet messaging service with a live video feed.

"Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again," Ravi wrote in the Sept. 21 post.

Ravi's Twitter feed has since been taken down. But the entries survived in a cached version of the page still available through Google's search engine this afternoon.

Prosecutors said Ravi and Wei set up a camera on Sept. 19 and broadcast live images of Clementi having a "sexual encounter." Ravi is also accused of trying unsuccessfully to broadcast a second sex scene Sept. 21.

The Clementi family released a statement this afternoon. "Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all," it said.

"The family and their representatives are cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigations of two Rutgers University students," the statement said.

Clementi was an accomplished violinist who had received a college scholarship from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra for his musicianship and leadership.
The violinist left a lasting impression with some in the Bergen County town, said Hiro Kagei, 17, who played in the orchestra with the teenager. A solo Clementi played in a concert last year "blew the audience away," he said.

"Now that he’ dead, it’s sad to think we won’t hear something like that anymore," Kagei said.

On the Rutgers campus, classmates described Clementi as quiet. At a mandatory dorm meeting called the day he was reported missing, only three students said they had spoken to Clementi since they moved into the dorm last month, according to students who were at the meeting.

Ravi and Wei — who were classmates at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North before enrolling at Rutgers this fall — did not respond to e-mail requests to comment Tuesday. Steve Altman, Ravi’s attorney, also declined to comment.

Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police Tuesday and was released on $25,000 bail, the prosecutor’s office said. Wei surrendered to the campus police Monday and was released on her own recognizance.

Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy laws, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent, the prosecutor said. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute the images.

If the students are convicted on a third degree offense they could face up to five years in prison each under state law. Conviction on a fourth-degree crime could lead to probation or up to 18 months in prison.

DJ's left nut · 09-30-2010, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

no it's not. there is no guarantee they will.

Tell ya what, if you insist on remaining obtuse, I'll edit the post as above and you can address it for what it obviously meant.

Or you can continue to say that nobody has an expectation of privacy because man is not governed by angels.

The new legal precedent? Everyone lies. To hell with contract law. To hell with libel and slander. To hell with privacy laws. You can't believe anyone to be telling the truth ever and therefore you have no reason to believe anyone.

This cannot possibly end poorly.

stevieray · 09-30-2010, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Wait - what?

C'mon - that's nonsense. The kid was given an expectation of privacy. It's why it's called an expectation. He wasn't given privacy, but he was absolutely given an expectation of it when the guy told him he'd leave.

we aren't talking about an inanimate object.

..and that's the rub...he trusted him with something extremely personal, something so personal he took his own life over it..it's up to him to make sure the probablity of "being exposed" is nil.

i can expect my job to be there tommorrow, doesn't mean it will be.

i can confide in a friend to not share personal infromation with others, and if he does, then he's a scumbag..but I learn on super sensitive matters, it's up to me to make sure it deosn't happen again...didn't the kid unplug the webcam? he was aware of the risk.

Jenson71 · 09-30-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

and that's the mitigating factor... he put himself at risk, because his privacy wasn't guaranteed.

How is it possible to guarantee your privacy?

Jerm · 09-30-2010, 02:47 PM

All I know is if I wanted to kill myself, I can think of a lot easier and less painful ways of doing it beyond jumping off a ****ing bridge...

JFC.

**DaKCMan AP** · 09-30-2010, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

we aren't talking about an inanimate object.

..and that's the rub...he trusted him with something extremely personal, something so personal he took his own life over it..it's up to him to make sure the probablity of "being exposed" is nil.

i can expect my job to be there tommorrow, doesn't mean it will be.

i can confide in a friend to not share personal infromation with others, and if he does, then he's a scumbag..but I learn on super sensitive matters, it's up to me to make sure it deosn't happen again...didn't the kid unplug the webcam? he was aware of the risk.

Expectation does not equal reality. You can have an expectation and not have it met - that doesn't nullify the expectation. In this case, he had by definition, a reasonable expectation for privacy. Just because his privacy was violated doesn't mean that expectation didn't or doesn't exist.

Jenson71 · 09-30-2010, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

we aren't talking about an inanimate object.

..and that's the rub...he trusted him with something extremely personal, something so personal he took his own life over it..it's up to him to make sure the probablity of "being exposed" is nil.

i can confide in a friend to not share personal infromation with others, and if he does, then he's a scumbag..but I learn on super sensitive matters, it's up to me to make sure it deosn't happen again...didn't the kid unplug the webcam? he was aware of the risk.

Did the dead kid tell his roommate that he was gay?

stevieray · 09-30-2010, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Tell ya what, if you insist on remaining obtuse, I'll edit the post as above and you can address it for what it obviously meant.

Or you can continue to say that nobody has an expectation of privacy because man is not governed by angels.

The new legal precedent? Everyone lies. To hell with contract law. To hell with libel and slander. To hell with privacy laws. You can't believe anyone to be telling the truth ever and therefore you have no reason to believe anyone.

This cannot possibly end poorly.

wow. talk about extreme..do you share everything with everybody about your personal life? trust everyone you meet with it? are you going to take a chance at being exposed about soemthing you really don't want others to know about?

If the kid wanted privacy to talk on the phone that's one thing, but to take the risk of something he didn't want to be known ( and he obviously didn't) that's another.

Jenson71 · 09-30-2010, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

wow. talk about extreme..do you share everything with everybody about your personal life? trust everyone you meet with it? are you going to take a chance at being exposed about soemthing you really don't want others to know about?

If the kid wanted privacy to talk on the phone that's one thing, but to take the risk of something he didn't want to be known ( and he obviously didn't) that's another.

I don't think you understand the facts in this situation.

Jenson71 · 09-30-2010, 02:54 PM

Right. I'm asking how that is possible.

DJ's left nut · 09-30-2010, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

we aren't talking about an inanimate object.

..and that's the rub...he trusted him with something extremely personal, something so personal he took his own life over it..it's up to him to make sure the probablity of "being exposed" is nil.

i can expect my job to be there tommorrow, doesn't mean it will be.

i can confide in a friend to not share personal infromation with others, and if he does, then he's a scumbag..but I learn on super sensitive matters, it's up to me to make sure it deosn't happen again...didn't the kid unplug the webcam? he was aware of the risk.

Sorry, but this is a precedent that cannot exist.

The law cannot operate under the presupposition that all men are liars for the reasons I've already noted.

If you're told that you will be given privacy, the law has to presume an expectation. To do otherwise would obliterate all jurisprudence.

Was he wise to believe him? Oh, who the hell knows? I'd like to think his trust was at least reasonable. Having lived in a dorm and having brought my G/F back, the sock on the door and/or the wink and nod was something that you put a lot of faith in.

But wise has little to do with it here - the law's going to say the expecation existed.

DJ's left nut · 09-30-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Expectation does not equal reality. You can have an expectation and not have it met - that doesn't nullify the expectation. In this case, he had by definition, a reasonable expectation for privacy. Just because his privacy was violated doesn't mean that expectation didn't or doesn't exist.

This has been said and ignored about 5 different ways.

Hopefully yours sticks.

Good luck.

vailpass · 09-30-2010, 03:00 PM

Darwinism is a bitch, isn't it?

|Zach| · 09-30-2010, 03:00 PM

Expecting the lowest common denominator from people and situations is absolutely no way to live. If you can't trust, you can't be trusted.

patteeu · 09-30-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Meat Dragon

yeah you guys are right...

two moron 18 year olds who ****ed up and did something stupid deserve to rot away in prison because some insecure douche bag offed himself because he couldn't handle who he was...

I'm sure there intent was really for this guy to kill himself...

They ****ed up...they shouldn't have done what they did...but they probably have no priors and no criminal past...

you really think these two harmless people deserve prison time?

really?

really?

one life was already ruined...lets ruin three!! Genious!

I'm with you, Hootie. This is a lot like the "mean girls" incident a while back that led to a cute girl deciding to commit suicide. I think that some of the bleeding hearts around here connect with these weak suicidal types so they lash out at the tormentors with a vengeance. The tormentors are wrong, but jail time is an inappropriate over-reaction to this type of bullying.

Jenson71 · 09-30-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

wow. talk about extreme..do you share everything with everybody about your personal life? trust everyone you meet with it? are you going to take a chance at being exposed about soemthing you really don't want others to know about?

Probably not! So instead of having gay sex in front of my roommate, or telling him that I'm going to, I'm going to ask him to leave for a few hours. Then I'm going to lock the door.

There's no debate here. This is behind closed doors. He most definitely had an expectation of privacy.

09-29-2010, 11:34 PM
jAZ Supporter Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Tucson, AZ Casino cash: $9817493	Rutgers freshman suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online? Wow. Prank gone waaay wrong. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...gers_post.html Rutgers freshman is presumed dead in suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 5:42 PM Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger PISCATAWAY — A Rutgers University freshman appears to have killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate broadcast live images of the 18-year-old having a sexual encounter with another man on the internet, according to campus and law enforcement sources. Tyler Clementi, 18, of Ridgewood, is presumed dead after his car, cell phone and computer were found near the George Washington Bridge last week, law enforcement sources said. His wallet was found on the walkway adjacent to the New York-bound lanes. In a statement released this afternoon, Clementi’s family confirmed the suicide and said his body has not been found. Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for setting up a camera in a dorm room on Sept. 19 and using it to view and transmit a live sex scene, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan. Paul Mainardi of Woodbury, the Clementi family's attorney, said Ravi and Clementi were roommates at Rutgers. Ravi's Twitter feed on that date referred to seeing his roommate have sex with another man in their room on the Piscataway campus, classmates said. "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay," Ravi said on his Twitter page in a Sept. 19 entry posted at 6:17 p.m. Two days later, Ravi posted another entry directing his nearly 150 Twitter followers to iChat, an internet messaging service with a live video feed. "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again," Ravi wrote in the Sept. 21 post. Ravi's Twitter feed has since been taken down. But the entries survived in a cached version of the page still available through Google's search engine this afternoon. Prosecutors said Ravi and Wei set up a camera on Sept. 19 and broadcast live images of Clementi having a "sexual encounter." Ravi is also accused of trying unsuccessfully to broadcast a second sex scene Sept. 21. The Clementi family released a statement this afternoon. "Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all," it said. "The family and their representatives are cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigations of two Rutgers University students," the statement said. Clementi was an accomplished violinist who had received a college scholarship from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra for his musicianship and leadership. The violinist left a lasting impression with some in the Bergen County town, said Hiro Kagei, 17, who played in the orchestra with the teenager. A solo Clementi played in a concert last year "blew the audience away," he said. "Now that he’ dead, it’s sad to think we won’t hear something like that anymore," Kagei said. On the Rutgers campus, classmates described Clementi as quiet. At a mandatory dorm meeting called the day he was reported missing, only three students said they had spoken to Clementi since they moved into the dorm last month, according to students who were at the meeting. Ravi and Wei — who were classmates at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North before enrolling at Rutgers this fall — did not respond to e-mail requests to comment Tuesday. Steve Altman, Ravi’s attorney, also declined to comment. Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police Tuesday and was released on $25,000 bail, the prosecutor’s office said. Wei surrendered to the campus police Monday and was released on her own recognizance. Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy laws, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent, the prosecutor said. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute the images. If the students are convicted on a third degree offense they could face up to five years in prison each under state law. Conviction on a fourth-degree crime could lead to probation or up to 18 months in prison.
Posts: 24,800

09-30-2010, 02:47 PM	#334
Jerm Mahomes > God Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Clinton, MO Casino cash: $4458996	All I know is if I wanted to kill myself, I can think of a lot easier and less painful ways of doing it beyond jumping off a ****ing bridge... JFC.
Posts: 10,212

09-30-2010, 02:54 PM	#339
Jenson71 fides quaerens intellectum Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: United States Casino cash: $8330900	Right. I'm asking how that is possible.
Posts: 15,986

09-30-2010, 03:00 PM	#342
vailpass Psycho Bag Of Squanch Join Date: Sep 2001 Casino cash: $9594244	Darwinism is a bitch, isn't it?
Posts: 69,591

09-30-2010, 03:00 PM	#343
\|Zach\| For The Glory Of The City Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $3146768	Expecting the lowest common denominator from people and situations is absolutely no way to live. If you can't trust, you can't be trusted.
Posts: 54,691